Chapter 29

Fujiwara Tetsuya lay half-reclined on a thick tree branch, watching the sky. They were camping out in the training grounds tonight, and any notions of asking Orochimaru for a little consideration? Way too naive.

"System, pull up the attributes panel."

"Allocate 108 kill points to overall strength. The rest, dump it all into Chidori."

After witnessing the battles of Ay, Rasa, and Kitsuchi, there was no way Tetsuya could say he didn't feel the pressure. Compared to those three, his age was a massive disadvantage. If he really ended up facing any of them, he knew it would be a grueling, uphill fight.

For now, the best plan was to convert every single kill point into tangible strength as quickly as possible.

[Ding! Kill points allocated successfully. Congratulations, host. Strength upgraded to Chunin level! 300 bonus kill points awarded.]

[Ding! Lightning Style: Chidori upgraded to Advanced Mastery.]

[Host: Fujiwara Tetsuya]

[Rank: Chunin (1/5000)]

[Bloodline Limit: None]

[Jutsu: Konoha-ryu Sword Technique (26/1000, Intermediate) – A, Lightning Style: Chidori (36/3000, Advanced) – A, Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu (210/500, Intermediate) – B, Lightning Style: Lightning Beast Tracking Fang (100/500, Advanced) – C, Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu (23/500, Advanced) – C, Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu (65/500, Advanced) – C, Body Flicker Jutsu (Intermediate) – D, Three Basic Techniques (Advanced) – E]

[Kill Points: 300]

Sure enough, leveling up an A-rank jutsu eats up an insane amount of kill points. Tetsuya frowned as he glanced at the updated panel. Gaining more kill points and increasing his strength fast? He'd have to grind missions like a madman. Otherwise, he might have to clear out every single wild beast around the Konoha perimeter just to gather enough points to level up his jutsu and break into elite Chūnin territory.

The first rays of the morning sun crept over the horizon, lighting up Tetsuya's resting figure. When Aburame Muto called out to him, Tetsuya, and Uchiha Mikoto casually strolled toward the assembly hall.

The second round of the Chunin pre-selection was a thirty-into-fifteen knockout. Due to the odd numbers, however, one person would be randomly chosen from the losers to round out the final sixteen.

"Tetsuya! So, did you find out who you're fighting this round?"

As Tetsuya walked down from the platform, paper slip in hand, Muto approached him looking a little dejected. It seemed his opponent was someone pretty tough.

"Yeah, I got matched up with Kitsuchi, the son of the Third Tsuchikage from Iwagakure."

Unfolding the slip, Tetsuya wasn't showing a single hint of nervousness. In fact, there was a glint of excitement in his eyes. He was eager to clash with Kitsuchi. After all, fighting strong opponents was what truly made one grow. Steamrolling weaklings just didn't give him the same rush anymore.

"What?! You're up against that guy?!" Muto's face went pale. "I'm probably not making it past my round, but you've gotta win, Tetsuya. You have to make it into the final selection!"

"Muto, come on! You're giving up before you've even fought? That's not like you." Uchiha Mikoto chimed in, her tone calm as she joined them. Judging by her expression, it was obvious she wasn't too worried about her upcoming match.

"My opponent... it's the guy from Sunagakure," Muto muttered.

"Wait, don't tell me... Rasa? That monster?" Tetsuya's eyebrow twitched as Muto nodded. Tetsuya couldn't help but wince. Muto wasn't weak by any means, but his techniques just didn't match up well against Rasa. Even if Rasa stood still, his floating gold dust could block every single one of Muto's bug attacks.

"Muto, don't lose heart. Believe in yourself." Tetsuya gave his comrade's shoulder a reassuring pat. But honestly, there wasn't much else he could say. It was a tough situation.

Just as predicted, Muto lost.

He didn't even manage to force Rasa to reveal his trump card before the hovering gold dust spears pushed him out of the ring. He became the first member of Team Thirteen to be eliminated.

"Tetsuya, Mikoto, sorry guys… I couldn't beat him," Muto sighed, dejected. "It's up to you two now."

"Don't worry, Muto. I'm not losing." Tetsuya's gaze shifted to the high platform, where Kitsuchi was already waiting. Without hesitation, he leapt up.

"Kitsuchi."

"Tetsuya Fujiwara."

Their eyes locked, and in the next instant, both figures charged at each other. The force of their clash sent a shockwave across the entire battlefield.

"Konoha-ryu Sword Technique: Fall!"

"Earth Style: Earth Return Wall!"

"Damn, this guy's Earth Style mastery is insane." Tetsuya smirked, standing before the crumbled stone wall. Casually, he drove his short sword into the ground beside him.

Ox–Monkey–Rabbit–Rat–Boar–Rooster…

"Wait, wait, wait! Mikoto, Tetsuya's not seriously going to use that jutsu here, is he?" Muto's face paled as he recognized Tetsuya's hand seals.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

A massive water dragon coiled around Tetsuya, drawing gasps from the crowd. With a thunderous roar, it charged straight at Kitsuchi.

"Mastering a jutsu like that at his age? What a terrifying kid," someone muttered.

"Earth Style: Earth Dragon!"

Just as the water dragon was about to collide with Kitsuchi, a giant earth dragon erupted from the ground. The two beasts clashed head-on.

Boom...

The explosion reverberated across the battlefield, ringing in everyone's ears for what seemed like forever. It wasn't until ten full seconds later that the water dragon finally shattered with a mournful wail, breaking into countless streams of water that trickled down from the platform.

Kitsuchi's earth dragon, too, crumbled into rubble, having exhausted all its energy.

"B-rank jutsu! And they pulled it off so effortlessly!"

"Fujiwara Tetsuya and Kitsuchi... these two are monsters!"

"Water Dragon vs. Earth Dragon, huh? Should be able to take a few hits from me, at least." Off in the distance, A cracked his knuckles with interest. If he got the chance to beat Kitsuchi into the ground, he figured the look on the Third Tsuchikage's face would be priceless.

---

On the battlefield, Tetsuya and Kitsuchi's bodies collided again and again, each impact shaking the entire arena.

Good thing Tetsuya's taijutsu had made major strides recently, thanks to the relentless training under Yuhi Shin's expert guidance.

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